Newsletter PollOur newsletter poll is still running. Please take a moment to visit the Suggestion Thread in the Q&A subforum and cast your vote. The current question: “What is the deciding factor for you in choosing a tournament?”

Currently Taking SignupsHere are just some of the tournaments that are currently taking signups. Just click the title to visit the thread.

Monopoly CC EditionOrgainiser: amazzony and simorTournament based on the famous board game Monopoly. It needs premium membership and 2 months of commitment but it's a bit different than many other tournaments. Still looking for two players.

The Mod WarsOrganiser: Night StrikeThere are about 30 spots remaining in this tournament featuring many different single player settings. There will be a premium prize, but only current premiums can sign up.

Tournament UpdatesHere are how some of the currently ongoing tournaments are progressing. Just click the title to visit the thread.

Freedom is not FreeOrganiser: jennifermarieFreedom is not free it costs a buck-o-five. So you will have to play a grueling 105 games matched against 6 players in order to come out on top to win that freedom. Round 2 is 95% done. 5 Rounds total

41 Maps TournamentOrganiser: jennifermarieCurrently, there are 41 maps that show places that exist or have existed on the planet earth. Over 7 weeks, 64 players will show their skill on all of these maps Week 2 games will be created on February 20th, 2008.

Lufsen75 is Hillary Clinton vampir2124 is Barack Obama satanspaladin is John Edwards barterer2002 is Chris Dodd

Each of these players "survived" the senate; outlasting 5 other candidates in each Division. They are now playing to see who will be doubles partners in the General Election.

CC’s Historical Battles TournamentOrganiser: TierynCC's Historical Battles has finished its first cycle, having replayed all of the historical battles in the CC-world. Prinfi came out on top with a whopping 30 points out of a possible 35. An excellent performance.

The semi-finals round will be beginning soon with the top 20 players, and new maps will be added. To represent the escalation of battle the second time round (and to speed up the tournament a little) this round may be all escalating games, but that remains to be determined.

Heroes: Choose Your PowerOrganiser: Night StrikeThere are only 2 games remaining to determine the other 2 finalists. Congratulations to Vish and gonzo111 who have secured places in the finals.

Amazing Race: USAOrganiser: Night StrikeThe Round 2 games at Puget Sound are coming to a close. 3 more teams will be eliminated with the others moving on to Pearl Harbor for the 3rd leg of the race.

Interview with pjdonaldThis week we had the opportunity to ask pjdonald some questions, and he answered. All questions are reader submitted, so if you have something you want to ask an upcoming organizer; PM me. Next week’s interview will be with Night Strike. If you have not submitted your questions, you have until Tuesday to either PM me, or post in this thread.In two weeks, our interview will be with a new organizer, Physics=2muchFD. Feel free to begin submitting your questions now, I have created this thread for that purpose.

Now, on with the interview.

Q: Hello, pjdonald.

A: Hello.

Q: What made you want to start running tournaments?

A: When I started on CC (Dec 2006), I played exclusively public games for several months. When I first dipped my foot into tournaments, I found the games to be even more exciting and consequential - even if the consequences were only bragging rights! There are certainly other good tournaments out there, but I had some ideas I didn't see getting played out anywhere else.

Q: Describe the experience of your first tournament ran and first played in.

A: As for the first one I ran, there are actually 3 answers to that. The first one I played in (The Race to Defend America) ended up also being the first one I ran. The organizer dropped out early on, so I picked it up for him (partly because I had won my first game, and partly because the idea of a tournament just being abandoned repulsed me).

That sort of happened again with the 2nd tournament I ran. The random map tournament got abandoned midway through the first round. I volunteered to restart it, but I did so under basically the same guidelines as the original organizer.

The first tournament I ran that was truly my own was the 3456 League. I organized this at a time when the 1v1 tournaments were all the rage. I can't stand the 1v1 setup; with all the other setups, luck certainly plays a role, but luck is 75% or more of the outcome in 1v1. I wanted a larger competition that didn't involve 1v1, while allowing people to choose the terrain.

Q: How excited where you with your first CC win?

A: Pretty juiced. A beginner's luck freestyle win in the first game I ever entered.

Q: Where did you come up with the ideas for your tournaments?

A: I like the idea of participants choosing the settings. And I'm not a big fan of gimmicks like attaching meaningless things to make it sound more interesting (e.g. choose your NFL team). I work hard to make things equitable.

Q: In regards to your 2345678 tournament, how did you come up with this specific idea?

A: Its pretty much an extension of the 3456 league I described above. With 3456, everyone in each division got to choose the settings for one game of each size, but that was going to result in too many games, I felt, in 2345678, so I paired it back. I've tried to seek input on the setups, and I appreciate those that have given it.

Q: How many tournaments have you run and how long have they been?

A: 5 I think. The longest was PJ's Random Map Reprise. I think that lasted about 4 months. Though Defend America dragged out for quite a while too, as it was all Flat-Rate 3-player, which has a tendency to stale-mate. The 5th one (still going) is Tossed Salad Doubles. I played very little team games in the first year I was a member, but I've really warmed to it now. I think there is a place for both team tournaments, and individual tournaments using the team setup.

Q: Is there a specific type of format that you tend to gravitate towards? Why?

A: I don't plan to run true team tournaments, because there are other organizers who do that very well. I do have some more ideas for somewhere down the line when I get the time.

As far as just playing games, no freestyle, no 1v1, rarely assassin, and rarely terminator (I think there's too much disadvantage for higher-ranked players to be targeted).

Q: What is your favorite tournament you've run? Why?

A: I think 3456. It required the most thought and planning. I use spreadsheets a lot in my work, so I enjoy setting them up for tournaments.

Q: What is your favorite tournament you’ve played in?

A: AndrewB's doubles tournaments have been fun. I got to the finals in one last fall, and aim to do the same with goggles p this spring.

Q: With experience comes the wisdom of knowing what mistakes you've made in the past so you can avoid them in the future. What mistakes have you made in your tournaments that you are sure to avoid in future tournaments?

A: I'm always looking for ways to discourage dropouts. Its tough. I hope I never drop out of a tournament, or worse yet, abandon one I'm running, but I know RL issues come up. But dropouts/abandonment happen too often.

I also have worked hard with each new tournament to establish a predictable schedule and make sure people now what they're signing up for, and to stay on schedule. I signed up for one last year that is still going and the end is not in sight. The original plan would've taken 2 years or more (my fault for not realizing that when I signed up!), and has had to be modified to make it playable.

Q: If you could change one thing about Conquer Club in general, what would it be?

A: No complaints, really! There's a lot of good stuff on those to-do lists I see on the forums, but I know it takes time. I'm really intrigued by Game Log 2.0. It would be nice to see more of what happens round-by-round.

Q: If there was something that the Conquer Club administrators could implement into the game to make tournaments easier to manage, what would it be? Similarly, is there anything you would like to see taken away from Conquer Club to make running tournaments easier?

A: The mandatory lag between postings makes it tremendously difficult. I understand why its there, but maybe it could be waived for organizers. It greatly increases the time needed to set up games (send out PM's). I've circumvented this to a degree with group coordinators, but that's not a perfect solution either.

Q: How's life in the USA, especially during all the presidential hassle?

A: My guy (Romney) is done, so I'm kind of disappointed. I'm a political junkie, so I enjoy following the stuff. My surfing is pretty much sports, politics, and CC.

Q: Any tournaments planned for the future? What are they?

A: Perhaps a follow-on to Tossed Salad Doubles. Not sure if it will be triples or 6-man doubles. We'll see!